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Gravelly Lake Report
Pierce County, WA

Details

08/09/2008
08/09/2008
2
3827

I asked a homeowner permission to get on the lake because there is no public access to Gravelly Lake. After got on the lake with my float tube, several homeowners came over in their power boats and yelled at me because I kept a few fish. They asked me to pay in to their fish fund because they paid to plant the fish. The home owners on the lake are constantly watching out of their windows with binoculars.

Apparently the other home owners are going to tell the guy that let me on the lake to discourage "trespassing poachers" so there won't be anyone to allow me back on the lake. I won't go back. Not a friendly place.

I'm going back to fishing at American Lake!


Comments

crappiemaster
8/10/2008 8:52:00 AM
Wow! What a bunch of idiots. You should have told them then to post something up around the lake, if that was what they wanted to do. You are not trespassing and you are not a poacher if you have permission. and it is the season!!! I don't blame you for going some where else...
runway12
8/10/2008 10:05:00 PM
Good Job Wyatt, I have been waiting for an updated report on this lake. It’s too bad you were treated that way. I guess the residents really want to not let the secret out that this lake (from what I have been told) holds huge fish and only a select have access to. I can see a point to the private stocking of the lake but this isn't a private pond, it’s a lake. Maybe it’s time to start putting some pressure on getting better access to this lake besides lakeside residents or by air.

Fish on,
Aaron
TheOne
8/11/2008 1:53:00 AM
wow dude.are you serious.man.thats messed up.but i can understand them.and i can understand you keeping a few fish.but we by you telling all of us what has happend to you because you kept a few fish.that should be a lesson to all.to allways catch and relese.!!
Mike Carey
8/11/2008 6:46:00 AM
sad to say, but I believe if there is no public access it isn't a public lake anymore. Ames lake in King county is another one (which is why a certain political whanaby irritates me even more, but that's another story). These lakes with no access I'm guessingdo not get stocked by WDFW, at least they better not!
steve
8/11/2008 12:46:00 PM
Well, I think I need to side with the homeowners on this one. While it may have been "legal" to keep some fish, you ended up loosing access to what, by all accounts, is a great fishery. You gained nothing, you irritated the folks who evidently pay to stock the lake, and probably didn't make it any easier for the rest of us who'd be more than willing to C&R just for the fun of it. I'd definitely put this one in the "shot yourself in the foot:" category, but then I have taken a trout home in 20 years...
VERSEONEJ
8/12/2008 3:32:00 AM
Well I was told that this lake is stocked by WDFW. Besides that all the creeks and other lakes leed to this lake, so fish go from one place to an other. How can it be right that no access is given to people who live in that town. It's just not right.
redneckroy
8/13/2008 9:10:00 PM
Hey Wyatt. Those rich snobs on that lake are so rude. One of them came over in his skiboat and swamped my little canoe. It almost tipped me over and I would have lost all my fishing gear. He just came over, yelled at me, and took off with a huge wake in his expensive boat. I am really angry. Its guys like that that id like to sink their boat in the middle of the night!!!!
Jake Dogfish
8/14/2008 10:58:00 AM
The homeowners do not own the water or the Fish that swim in it. The city of lakewood has been trying to develop an access point:

http://www.cityoflakewood.us/images/stories/GovernmentRelations/resources/lakefront_street_ends_-_community_mtg_jan_23.pdf
RainbowHunter
1/12/2009 7:50:00 PM
These home owners that threw a fit over you keeping a few fish didnt do it because they paid to stock the lake. They only did it because you arent one of the homeowners that lives on the lake. You can bet that if you owned one of those houses they wouldnt have said a word to you. It is just a matter of money and social standing. Most the people that live on that lake dont even fish they just help pay to stock so they can believe they have the right to keep the average citizen off the lake and away from them and its all because they have money and the need to feel like they have power.
crappie1
4/17/2009 12:10:00 PM
I have lived in the area for 16 years, Am a longtime resident of Lakewood. I prob. lived here longer than they have. I would love to show those A-Holes that they don't own the lake, they bought the land and shore line. Lets get some of our lakes back by fishing them and making it clear that they dont get to force us out of places we have fished responsible for years before they came and bought out the free spaces. I would call the sheriff if a boater threaten me with his boat and that is what that was. You could capsize and drowned. Lets find the access to the lake and clear it if needed. The fire dept. has to have a access point into the lake. Who is in? This could be great publicity for a good cause. Show those A-Holes you wont go around policing the waters that you dont own. YOU ASS and we will fish there if we choose to do so, in peace without harassment.
smiley35
8/9/2014 11:01:00 AM
I would love to start a petition or even get people together who want public access to Gravelly Lake. If the lake is public then the public should have access without being harassed by the homeowners on the lake. I am doing research to find out exactly who stocks the lake and exactly what creeks feed the lake. I was told that even if the homeowners pay to stock the lake, once the fish are in the lake they become public property just like the lake itself. It’s unfair for these pompous, self-righteous homeowners to deny and even threaten people who want to be on the lake whether it’s to fish, boat or swim. This kind of thing really pisses me off. I welcome anyone who would like to join in my crusade or any information that might be helpful in accomplishing the goal of true public access to Gravelly Lake.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Snake Dancer Excursions

Phone: (800) 234-1941